Observations of the planetary nebula RWT 152 with OSIRIS/GTC

TL;DR

This study presents detailed imaging and spectroscopy of the planetary nebula RWT 152, revealing its bipolar structure, low chemical abundances, and halo status, suggesting evolution from a low-mass, metal-poor progenitor.

Contribution

First detailed imaging and spectroscopic analysis of RWT 152, characterizing its morphology, chemical composition, and evolutionary status.

Findings

Reveals bipolar nebula with bubbles and halo

Identifies low-excitation, metal-poor nebula

Suggests halo origin from low-mass, metal-poor star

Abstract

RWT 152 is one of the few known planetary nebulae with an sdO central star. We present subarcsecond red tunable filter Halpha imaging and intermediate-resolution, long-slit spectroscopy of RWT 152 obtained with OSIRIS/GTC with the goal of analyzing its properties. The Halpha image reveals a bipolar nebula with a bright equatorial region and multiple bubbles in the main lobes. A faint circular halo surrounds the main nebula. The nebular spectra reveal a very low-excitation nebula with weak emission lines from H^+, He^+, and double-ionized metals, and absence of emission lines from neutral and single-ionized metals, except for an extremely faint [NII]6584 emission line. These spectra may be explained if RWT 152 is a density-bounded planetary nebula. Low nebular chemical abundances of S, O, Ar, N, and Ne are obtained in RWT 152, which, together with the derived high peculiar velocity ($\sim$ 92-131 km s$^{-1}$), indicate that this object is a halo planetary nebula. The available data are consistent with RWT 152 evolving from a low-mass progenitor ($\sim$ 1 M$_{\odot}$) formed in a metal-poor environment.